Georgetown : Guyanese are being urged to be cautious of the racist platforms and screens that are being put forth during the run-up to general and regional elections, and to vote on merit, as racism would only serve to exacerbate the historical wounds that exist.
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil, accompanied by his Cabinet colleague, Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul on the National Communications Network’s ‘Political Scope’ programme last evening, made these statements. The two officials examined the decision of President Donald Ramotar to announce general and regional elections, early in 2015, following the prorogation of parliament.
The Attorney General noted that when his party pointed to the fact that the Alliance For Change (AFC) was aligning with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), it was they who were accused of racism. He pointed out however, that the decision not to have Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses Nagamootoo speak at the recent APNU rally at the Square of the Revolution was inherently racist.
Citing another example, he said, “They (opposition) go to the sugar workers and say the government is giving Linden free electricity, but sugar workers are not going to be paid increases in salaries. When the sugar workers are paid increases in salaries now, they go back to the bauxite workers and say we are only paying sugar workers increased salaries, we are not paying you increased salaries. There is racism… it’s innate in this type of political strategy”.
He expressed the hope that persons are educated enough to see beyond these racist platforms and screens that are being erected by these political parties at this time. Guyanese politicians and leaders should be seeking to heal these problems and not worsen past wounds, he emphasised.
The Attorney General called on the leadership of all parties to have their supporters vote on merit, not on race. He reminded that “we (PPPC) have a track record to defend. A track record that shows this country has moved from a state of bankruptcy to economic viability if not prosperity. Eight years of consecutive economic growth, a stable dollar, reducing interest, increasing salaries, and social benefits for people annually. That is our track record”.
The president’s decision to prorogue and the move towards elections, almost two years before constitutionally mandated, were on reflection a “déjà vu” moment, Minister Nandlall reminded, of what occurred in 1997. That year saw elections being called two years before they were due to be held. Notwithstanding this, the PPP/C was re-elected to office by a comfortable margin. This was described as a “rejection of the franchise of the people” as both occasions similarly resulted in the life of the government being curtailed, in terms of its five-year term of office.
If the no-confidence motion that the AFC was pushing, with support from the APNU had succeeded, Dr. Gopaul said government’s business would have halted, and Christmas would not have been the same. The AFC had intended to push through the no-confidence motion at the November 10 sitting, but the president issued the proclamation to prorogue the 10thparliament.
“The tenseness, the type of mudslinging and the type of attacks which take place on innocent people…I believe that if the PNC or the APNU and the AFC were serious about all their talks about shared governance and national governance and inclusive governance, these actions would surely not give one the impression that they are serious”.
He added that a national government cannot be built on intimidation and threats and coercion, but only through dialogue, sensible proposals and true intelligence. He described the Parliament since the opposition gained a one- seat majority as “sheer unreasonableness”.
It was noted that the prorogation, which forestalled the joint opposition’s attempt to force a no-confidence motion against the government, was aimed at allowing for dialogue between both sides of the National Assembly.
The idea of having dialogue however, was put into some context by Minister Nandlall, who said that despite both sides often calling for it, it was the opposition which, when government advanced the concept, often fell short. He noted that the opposition would either refuse, citing a myriad of excuses such as key members being overseas or otherwise absent, or bring to the table unreasonable demands.
Asked about the opposition’s call for, or its attempt to force early elections, particularly during the festive season which would have been dampened by political campaigning, Minister Nandlall said the opposition cares less about the views of Guyanese since it has rejected transformational projects such as Amaila Falls Hydro project, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion and cuts to three consecutive national budgets.
“Having a political campaign in the middle of the Christmas season would have been the least of their concerns because they were gunning to move a no-confidence motion according to them within the first hour of the parliamentary sitting of November 10. That would have catapulted parliament into dissolution and elections would have followed soon, within three months, right now we would have been campaigning”.
Minister Gopaul added that the fulminations by the joint opposition showed that they were “caught with their pants down” because they ought to have known the options available to the president, especially since there are lawyers in their midst.
The Labour Minister said that recent statements emanating from the AFC leadership, which intimated that those found wanting and guilty of corruption would be “fried”, were political grandstanding since he was confident that no-one in the PPP/C was or could ever be found guilty of corruption.
“They can mouth all sort of things, but nothing can be established against this PPP administration, nothing has ever been established. Nothing has ever been established to point to the fact that there is one iota of corrupt practice by any member of the Cabinet, at any point in time during the 20-odd years of the PPP”.
The Integrity Act is there, the minister added and many of those in the opposition are yet to comply. He also referenced the Audit Statement, from the Auditor General’s office, on government expenditure that is scrutinised by the Parliament, and noted if any corruption was perceived then the opposition would have been “jumping all over it’. There may be corruption at other levels of government, he opined but stressed, “Corruption is not being practiced by the PPP/Civic administration”. The laws and process of natural justice oftentimes makes prosecution of those suspected of this practice difficult, he added.
Mention was also made of the impressive infrastructural developments across Guyana, in every sector, by Minister Nandlall.
For Minister Gopaul, he observed that it would be remiss to forget that Guyana had never graduated 250 doctors simultaneously, but such a feat was achieved in 2013, hence the human resource development capacity building, as he too enumerated the signal achievement of the PPPC Administration.
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